The Russian influence in Harbin, including a continuing strong Russian population here, is no better felt than a wander around the streets that make up the Daoli district, in the northwest of the city. 
 
Among the many Orthodox churches and Russian style facades in this region, the St. Sophia Orthodox Church is the most impressive and imposing structure. It is one of 17 churches to be completed early in Harbin.
 
With the completion of the Sino-Russia railway in 1903, connecting Vladivostok to northeast China, the Russian No.4 Army Division arrived in this region. After Russia's shameful failure against the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), a plan to reconsolidate the confidence of the army by building an imposing spiritual symbol was proposed. Thus the magnificent St. Sofia Church was born, completed in 1907. To accommodate an outgrowing parish, construction of a new temple began in September of 1923. After almost a decade, it was finally consecrated on December 25, 1932 as the new Harbin Sofia. The biggest Orthodox Church in the Far East was finally completed and stood much as it does today.
 
The 53m tall building features with a typical Byzantine architecture: the main structure of the church is laid out as a Latin Cross with the main hall topped with a huge green tipped roof. Under the bright sun, the church, together with the square around it, reminds the Chinese, bizarrely, of the Red Square in Moscow. Although there are still several hundred Orthodox believers in Harbin, the religious activities are usually conducted in other smaller churches. St. Sofia Church is nowadays used as the Municipal Architecture and Art Museum with exhibitions of the architectural history of the city.